The automobile has become the primary means for transportation and is used throughout the world. The automobile effectively replaced the horse-drawn carriage at the turn of the century providing a self-propelled vehicle having the ability to carry multiple passengers in an enclosed environment. However, passengers are required to travel in a seated position and must enter and exit the automobile in a bent-over, partially seated configuration.
The interior of an automobile allows various types of seating arrangements to exist. The seating arrangement may be classified as luxurious, having soft treated leather, to a more barren type arrangement which provides low cost basic transportation. A common configuration between a luxury vehicle and an economy vehicle is that each vehicle requires an occupant to be placed in a seated position which is generally accepted as the most comfortable traveling position. To accommodate a side-by-side seating position, vehicle designs utilize a wide profile. The height of the automobile inhibits an occupant from standing due to the generally low profile used to aerodynamically increase fuel economy and reduce wind noise.
Typically the more aerodynamic an automobile is designed, the more difficult it is for passengers to enter or exit the automobile. Even with large luxury automobiles, the tendency is to present a small profile capable of increasing fuel mileage by reducing air resistance. This presents a special problem for passengers who have limited mobility. For example, should a person enter the back seat of a low profile automobile, even an agile person may have difficultly in sliding across the seat to a center position. An individual who enters the automobile must slide across a seat for proper positioning. This problem becomes more pronounced if the individual is in formal wear or needs to slide all the way to the other side of the automobile due to other entering passengers. This difficultly is yet further increased if the person is elderly or has a physical handicap. Similarly, exiting the vehicle can be just as difficult wherein the person is required to retrace their movements from within the cramped confines of the automobile. The exiting party must again slide over the seat and then stand from an inordinately low position. Without proper leg strength and balance, this task is difficult and even impossible for some individuals.
Thus, what is needed in the art is a device capable of assisting a passenger during the entry and exit of a automobile.